GESCHWISTER-SCHOLL-INSTITUT
FÜR POLITIKWISSENSCHAFT
Guide for Political Science Exchange-Students
This guide will help you – as a prospective or current ERASMUS+ or LMU Exchange-student – to find
your way around our institute.
Please also check our institute-website as well as our international student website.
1. Who can apply?
You can only study at the GSI if there if there is an agreement between the GSI and your home
university - either through Erasmus+ or LMU exchange.
Our Erasmus+ partners:
Ireland:
UK:
France:
Italy:
Spain:
Denmark:
Czech Republic:
Poland:
Lithuania:
Norway:
Finland:
Turkey:
University College Cork
University of Bradford
University of Westminster, London
University of Birmingham
Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III
IEP de Paris (Sciences Po)
IEP d'Aix-en-Provence
IEP de Toulouse
Università degl Studi di Bologna
Università degli studi di Trieste
Universidad de Granada
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
Kobenhavns Universitet
Univerzita Karlova v Praze
Uniwersytet Warszawski
Vilnius Universitetas
Universitetet i Bergen
Helsingin Yliopisto
Bilgi Üniversitesi Istanbul
Our LMU Exchange partners:
USA:
Canada:
Mexico:
Ecuador:
Chile:
Australia:
Thailand:
China:
South Korea:
Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla
Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile
University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney
Thammasat University, Bangkok
Lingnan University, Hongkong
Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul
Please enquire with your home university.
2. How to apply
Your application needs to be submitted to your home university, which then nominates its candidates
for the Exchange-programmes. If you have been nominated, your home coordinator will send an email
with the names and email-addresses of the nominated students to LMU’s International Office.
The International Office will get in touch with all accepted students during the following weeks and
inform them about further application procedures and questions concerning accommodation and
language courses. You have to return the application form to the International Office of the LMU by
June 1st for the winter term, by December 1st for the summer term.
There is no need for any additional application at the GSI. Exchange-students do not need to take part
in any qualification procedure (“Eignungstest”) or German language test.
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3. How to complete your Learning Agreement
For your application you will have to submit a Learning Agreement, in which you lay out the courses
you intend to take.
Important note: As the courses vary from semester to semester, you should only name which type of
course you wish to take in which subfield. You should not at this stage research the
Vorlesungsverzeichnis for specific courses, because it is unlikely that these courses will be offered
when you are here.
Our teaching is divided into three subfields: Political Theory, Political Systems, and International
Relations.
In each subfield we offer four types of courses:
Vorlesungen (lectures) provide a general introduction to a subfield or specific topic. While our regular
German students do not take an exam in their Vorlesungen, Exchange students can take a final exam
in order to obtain their ECTS-points. For details, please check with your professor directly once the
Vorlesung has started.
Grundkurse (basic courses) give a general overview of a field, but go more into detail than
Vorlesungen. Students are expected to do a lot of reading, participate in class-discussions and to give
an oral presentation. Final exams are normally held in the last week of the term.
Übungen (seminars) delve more deeply into specific issues in the three subfields. Reading-loads are
considerable and you will be expected to participate in discussions and give an oral presentation. To
obtain your ECTS-points, you will have to write a term paper (typically 10-12 pages).
Hauptseminare and Masterseminare (advanced seminars) are similar to Übungen, yet on a more
advanced level. You may choose a Hauptseminar or a Masterseminar only if you are in a graduate
programme (M.A. or PhD) at your home university.
In addition, we offer an Übung that cuts across all these subfields: Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten
(research techniques). If you are not familiar with the research techniques in the social sciences, you
should attend this course.
The following table shows the course combinations and their respective ECTS-points:
Vorlesung
Politische Theorie
5 ECTS
Politische Systeme 5 ECTS
Internationale
5 ECTS
Beziehungen
Wissenschaftliches
Arbeiten
Grundkurs
Übung
Hauptseminar/
Masterseminar
8 ECTS
8 ECTS
8 ECTS
10 ECTS
10 ECTS
10 ECTS
12 ECTS
12 ECTS
12 ECTS
8 ECTS
As participation in Grundkursen and Übungen is time-consuming, we advise you to choose no more
than two Grundkurse and one Übung per term – plus Vorlesungen. When choosing your courses,
please keep in mind that your home university may require a specific number of total ECTS-points per
term (e.g. 30 ECTS).
Courses in English
While Vorlesungen and Grundkurse will normally be held in German, we always offer a few Übungen
in English. You can check on those once the Vorlesungsverzeichnis has been published (end of
January for the summer term, end of July for the winter term). However, note that there is usually a
very high demand for places in courses held in English. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that you will
get a place in such a course. Therefore you have to have a certain knowledge of German, in order to
be able to study at the GSI.
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Here is an example of a Learning Agreement:
4. What happens after your arrival?
After having arrived in Munich, this is what you should do:
I. Check calendar: Find out the exact term dates.
II. Registration: Go to the university's International Office and register. The International Office will
inform you about the deadline for registration.
III. Introductory meeting at the GSI: Approximately one week before the courses start, there will be
an introductory meeting for all new Exchange students in the political science institute. Please make
sure not to miss it, as it provides essential information, especially on online course registration!
You should also go there if you are an Exchange-student at another institute (e.g. sociology) but wish
to take classes at the GSI.
Check our international student website to find out when the next meeting takes place.
5. How does the online course registration work?
You have to register online for courses at our institute. Online-registration is mandatory (except for
Vorlesungen): If you do not register, you cannot participate. Students from other institutes intending to
participate in courses at the GSI, too, need to register online.
Online registration is somewhat complicated. However, our introductory meeting is always taking
place before the online registration period ends, so you can really wait until then for course
registration.
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If you do want to try before the meeting, here is how it works:
I. As a first step, consult the Vorlesungsverzeichnis. The section "BA-Hauptfach Politikwissenschaft" is
the one normally relevant for Exchange students. If you are a Master student at your home university,
you may also choose courses from the section "Masterstudiengang Politikwissenschaft". Pick specific
courses for each of the course types you have opted for in your Learning Agreement.
II. Then, go to our online registration website, called "Coremato".
Now, you will be asked to enter your “Matrikelnummer” and your “Nachname”. As your
Matrikelnummer, Exchange-students have to enter the first three letters of their surname and their
date of birth. When entering your “Nachname”, make sure you use neither “Umlaute” nor any special
characters.
For example: Steve Miller, born July 24, 1994 enters the following information:
Matrikelnummer:
Nachname:
Mil_24.07.94
Miller
Once logged in, you will be asked to enter a password for future logins.
Note: If it does not work, please wait until the introductory meeting, where we will explain the
registration process in detail.
III. You can now choose the exact courses you wish to take (including time and name of the lecturers).
As we cannot guarantee that you actually get a place in the course you wish, you should also choose
alternative courses.
IV. Shortly after the online-registration closes, you can check the online-registration system for the
courses you have been assigned to. Print it out, this is your timetable.
If you have technical login-problems after the introductory meeting, please send an email to the
institute's computer help desk: edv@gsi.uni-muenchen.de
Courses in other departments
Please note: If you want to follow courses at other institutes, you have to check there to find out about
their registration procedures. Our online registration will only allow you to register for courses in
political science.
6. How to get access to the GSI-Intranet
In order to get access to course material you need to enter the institute’s intranet. However,
registration works differently from Coremato. Here is how you can get access to it.
I. Go to the intranet-website: http://intranet.gsi.uni-muenchen.de/
II. Go to “Studenten -> Dokumente (DocuCip)”
III. Now you will be asked for your “Benutzername” and “Passwort”. Confusingly, your original
Coremato-Matrikelnummer now is your “Benutzername” and your Coremato-Benutzername here turns
into your “Passwort”.
For example, Steve Miller, born July 24, 1994 enters the following information:
Benutzername:
Mil_24.07.94
Passwort:
Miller
Make sure to spell your surname exactly as you have done for Coremato. And type the first letter of
your name in capital letters.
IV. Once logged in, you have access to course material. Find out to which “Lehrstuhl” your “Dozent”
belongs, as his course can be found in the respective Lehrstuhl-Folder.
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7. What happens during the lecture period?
Here is an overview of what you should keep in mind during the lecture period:
Week 1 of lecture period: Go to the courses you have been assigned to.
Week 3 of lecture period (approximately): If you have chosen course types you did not intend to take
according to your original Learning Agreement (and only then) you may now submit a modified
Learning Agreement. Hand in your modified Learning Agreement to your coordinator (Lars Colschen
for LMU exchange, Rainer Hülsse for Erasmus +) at the GSI, who will sign it, so that you can send it
back to your home university.
Week 12 of lecture period (approximately): Download a transcript of records (Notenspiegel) and
enter the necessary information. Hand in the transcript of records to the Studienbüro at the GSI.
Week 15 of lecture period (approximately): Exam period (Vorlesungen and Grundkurse).
Three weeks after end of lecture period (approximately): Deadline for submission of term papers (in
course types “Übungen” and “Hauptseminare”).
Four weeks after end of lecture period (approximately): Lecturers will send the results of your
exams to the Studienbüro, where your transcript of records will be completed and then sent to the
International Office. From there it goes directly to your home university. Therefore, there is nothing you
need to do at this stage.
8. How to read your grades
Exams and papers are marked with grades from 1 to 5 the best grade being 1 and 5 indicating failure.
In order to get a more differentiated evaluation, each grade can be raised and lowered by 0,3. The
grades can be transferred into ECTS grades according to the following table:
ECTS grade
A
B
C
D
E
FX, F
German grade
1,0 – 1,3
1,7 – 2,0
2,3 – 3,0
3,3 – 3,7
4,0
5,0 „n.b.“ („nicht bestanden“ - failed)
Please note that the number of credit points per course is fixed. Hence you cannot obtain less credit
points for only partial fulfillment of the course requirements. It is either full credit points or none at all.
9. Where to find literature
The political science library is located opposite the main entrance of the institute. It is called Bibliothek
der Institute am Englischen Garten and is part of LMU’s library system.
10. How to go online
There are several access points to computers and the internet throughout the LMU. Check here for a
list of such places. At the GSI you can access computers and the internet either in the library in the
computer room of the institute of communication studies (which is located in the same building).
If you bring your own notebook, you need to download and install the VPN-Client in order to be able to
access the LMU's wireless network.
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11. Whom to contact
I. ERASMUS-Coordinator Political Science
(responsible for all Incoming Erasmus+ students at the GSI)
Dr. Rainer Hülsse
Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Oettingenstr. 67
80538 München
Room H 1.04 (first floor)
Phone: +49 89 2180 9054
Fax: +49 89 2180 9017
Email: rainer.huelsse@lmu.de
website
II. LMU Exchange Coordinator Political Science
(responsible for all LMU Exchange students at the GSI)
Dr. Lars Colschen
Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Oettingenstr. 67
80538 München
Room 064 (ground floor)
Phone: +49 89 2180 9011
Fax: +49 89 2180 9012
Email: lars.colschen@gsi.uni-muenchen.de
website
III. Studienbüro Political Science
(responsible for your Transcript of Records)
Christina Kern, M.A.
Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Oettingenstr. 67
80538 München
Room 066 (Ground Floor) Phone: +49 89 2180 9106 Fax: +49 89 2180 9012 Email: studentensekretariat@gsi.uni-muenchen.de
website
IV. International Office of the LMU
(responsible for general Exchange student matters such as registration, accommodation, language courses)
LMU – International Office
Postal address:
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
80539 München
Address for visitors:
Ludwigstr. 27
Room G 009 (ground floor)
Phone: +49 89 2180 2799
Fax: +49 89 2180 3136
Email: studentenaustausch@verwaltung.uni-muenchen.de
website
12. How to get to the GSI
The institute is located at Oettingenstraße 67, 80538 München (close to “Englischer Garten” and
“Chinesischer Turm”.
Public transport: bus services 54 and 154 (stop: Hirschauer Straße), tram line 18 (stop: Tivolistraße).
last change: December 2014
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Please be aware that we do not guarantee the accuracy of this information as things may have changed since this document
has last been updated.